Railroad-spike.



l. P. PAYNE.

RAILROAD SPIKE.

APPLICATION FILED DEC.29. 1913.

PatentedSept. 7', 1915.

IRA 1P. PAYNE, OF DUIBOIS, PENNSYLVANIA.

RAILROAD-SPIKE.

Application filed December 29, 1913.

To all whom it may concern Be it known that I, IRA P. PAYNE, a citi- Zen of the United States, residing at Dubois, in the county of Clearfield and State of Pennsylvania, have invented certain new and useful Improvements in Railroad- Spikes; and I do hereby declare the following to be a full, clear, and exact description of the invention, such as will enable others skilled in the art to which it appertains to make and use the same.

This invention relates to new and useful improvements in railroad spikes and has for its principal object to provide a spike which may be easily put in place.

Another object of the invention is to provide a spike which will firmly hold a rail and prevent it from becoming accidentally Withdrawn.

A further object of the invention is to provide a spike having a starting point to insure the same being driven intothe tie in the proper position.

lVith the above and other objects in view, the invention consists in novel combination and arrangement of parts which will be fully set forth in the following specification and accompanying drawings, in which,

Figure 1 is a sectional view of a rail and tie, showing my improved spike in position, and Fig. 2 is a detail perspective view of a spike constructed in accordance with this invention.

Referrlng now tothe drawlngs by characters of reference, the numeral 1 deslgnates "a railroad tie, while the numeral 2 designates, as an entirety, a railroad rail. The spike which is designated, generally, by the numeral 3 preferably comprises the shank 4: having formed at the upper end thereof the usual head 5. Immediately beneath the head and formed integral with the shank is preferably provided the lip 6 which is adapted to form a shoulder against which the lower side of the flange of the rail is adapted to rest when the device is in place. The usual point 7 is provided at the end of Specification of Letters Patent.

Patented Sept. 7, 1915.

Serial No. 809,357.

the shank opposite the head 5 and is adapted to permit of easy placing of the spike in p0 sltion. An auxiliary point 8 is formed on the point 7 and is adapted to form a guide which will materially assist in putting the spike in place.

It will be clearly seen from the foregoing that when it is desired to place the spike in place on a railroad tie, the point 8 is first brought in contact with the surface of a tie and the same driven downwardly, thus it will be seen that the point 8 will act as a guide and insure the proper positioning of the spike with relation to the tie. Furthermore it will be evident that through the action of the lip 6, which abuts the lower side of the flange of the rail, the spike will be prevented from becoming accidentally withdrawn and thus the spreading of the rails will be eliminated.

While in the foregoing I have shown and described the preferred embodiment of my invention, it will be understood that minor changes in construction, combination and arrangement of parts may be made without departing from the spirit and scope of the invention as claimed.

Having thus described my invention, I claim:-

A railroad spike of the character described comprising a rectangular shank, a head formed in one end of the shank, inwardly and downwardly inclined faces formed at the lower end of the shank opposite the head, said faces converging and forming an edge at the point where they meet, and a prong formed centrally of the edge and depending therefrom, said prong tapering toward its lower end, the prong forming a guide point for the spike to permit the same to be easily driven in place.

In testimony whereof I affix my signature in presence of two witnesses.

IRA P. PAYNE. Witnesses:

B. S. MUNGH, CHAs. J. BANGERT.

G'ojpies of this patent may be obtained for five cents each, by addressing the Commissioner of Patents,

Washington, D. G. 

